REDTENBACHER

AUSTRIA (see also List of Individuals)

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25.7.1809 Steyr/A - 16.4.1863 Karlsruhe/D

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Ferdinand Redtenbacher graduated as an engineer from the Technical University of Vienna in 1829. After a stay as a teacher in Zurich, he was appointed in 1841 professor of mechanical engineering at the Karlsruhe Polytechnic. There, he significantly influenced its rénomée and spread worldwide the idea of Polytechnics. After having passed away, Franz Grashof (1826-1893) took over his legacy. A plaque at Redtenbacher's home in Steyr says: To the founder of mechanical engineering as a science.

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Until Redtenbacher's era in Karlsruhe, mechanical engineering in Germany was pure handwork. Redtenbacher realized that the technical education needed a significant development, as then professed in France mainly. In contrast to Ecole Polytechnique, he sought independence of technical education from mathematics, as existed for instance at Ecole Polytechnique. Accordingly, the scientific design of machines rather originated from Germany than from France. Redtenbacher's true fields of analysis were the designs of locomotives and of turbines, the latter having also been introduced in France. He claimed for an excellent knowledge of mathematics before students would learn the development of machines, and Polytechnics should provide the background for education, research and exchange with practice. Redtenbacher in addition realized the significance of mechanical engineering laboratories and proposed an independent degree for mechanical engineers. His attitude towards technology was one of the reasons for the rise of the German industry mainly after 1870. Redtenbacher was also actively involved in the foundation of the Zurich Polytechnic in 1855, and he supported educational changes at the Vienna Polytechnic around the same time.

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_{Hoecken, A. (1930). Das exzentrisch angetriebene Räderknie. Zeitschrift VDI 74(16): 509-512. P}

_{Körting, J. (1963). Ferdinand Redtenbacher. VDI-Zeitschrift 105(11): 449-451. P}

_{Kraemer, O. (1950). Ferdinand Redtenbacher. Die Technische Hochschule Fridericiana Karlsruhe: Festschrift zur 125-Jahrfeier: 79-84, E. Terres, ed. TH: Karlsruhe. P}

_{Redtenbacher, F. (1858). Theorie und Bau der Wasserräder. Bassermann: Mannheim. Redtenbacher, F. (1860). Theorie und Bau der Turbinen. Bassermann: Mannheim. Redtenbacher, F. (1875). Resultate für den Maschinenbau. Grashof: Heidelberg. Redtenbacher, F. (1879). Geistige Bedeutung der Mechanik und geschichtliche Skizze der Entdeckung ihrer Prinzipien. Bassermann: München.}

_{Schnabel, F. (1937). Ferdinand Redtenbacher. Blätter für Geschichte der Technik 4: 66-71. P http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/biographies/Redtenbacher/index.php P}